Envisioning Robots in Society—Politics, Power, and Public Space

Automation is the new key strategy for productivity gain—many countries are well on their way towards the production model of "industry 4.0" where software bot and robots will appear in all industrial sectors including service industries. The core driver of this disruption complex is robotics, producing ever more intelligent, ever more connectable artificial agents that function in ever more complex physical and social surroundings. This raises a host of complex questions for policy-makers, engineers, and researchers. Which socio-political, socio-cultural, economic, and ethical challenges will we humans be confronted with as robots will be included into more and more contexts of our everyday life? Are we bound to increase the precariat or will the ‘robot revolution’ open up new paths towards greater social justice? How should we envision robots in society?

The European Parliament has called for national ethical and legal councils to support decision making on the profound and comprehensive disruptions that automation will likely engender—"without stifling innovation" while keeping ethical and cultural values in view. This is a crucial signal to policy-makers that economic considerations alone must not prevail. It is also a signal for researchers, policy makers, engineers, and corporations to realize that they jointly share the burden of responsibility for shaping the course of the ‘robot revolution’.

The conference Robophilosophy 2018 – Envisioning Robots In Society: Politics, Power, And Public Space has three main aims; it shall:

present interdisciplinary Humanities research in and on social robotics that can inform policy making and political agendas, critically and constructively

investigate how academia and the private sector can work hand in hand to assess benefits and risks of future production formats and employment conditions.

explore how research in the Humanities, including art and art research, in the social and human sciences, can contribute to imagining and envisioning the potentials of future social interactions in the public space.

Juha Heikkilä (Head of the Robotics and Artificial Intelligence unit at the European Commission)

Robophilosophy 2018 – Envisioning Robots In Society: Politics, Power, And Public Space is the third event in the biennial Robophilosophy Conference Series which facilitates robophilosophy, a new area of interdisciplinary applied research in philosophy, robotics, and other disciplines in the Humanities, social and human sciences. The event with gather researchers, artists, representatives from politics, and actors of the private sector to create constructive dialogue and concrete collaborations on the joint task of envisioning robots in human societies.

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Onsite registration

Late registration for the conference is still possible. To sign up, either click the registration link in the menu to the left, or simply click here. It will also be possible to register onsite with credit card or cash.

Previous conference publications

What Social Robots Can and Should DoProceedings of Robophilosophy 2016 / TRANSOR 2016 (IOS Press).Available here.

Sociable Robots and the Future of Social RelationsProceedings of Robo-Philosophy 2014 (IOS Press)Available here.

In preparation: RobophilosophyPhilosophy of, for, and by Social Roboticsed. by J. Seibt, R. Hakli, and M. Nørskov, MIT Press

Sociality and Normativity for RobotsPhilosophical Inquiries into Human-Robot Interactions (Springer)This volume offers eleven philosophical investigations into our future relations with social robots--robots that are specially designed to engage and connect with human beings. - click here.

Social RobotsBoundaries, Potential, Challenges (Ashgate) -This edited volume contributes to the field of social robotics by exploring its boundaries, potential, and Challenges from a philosophically informed standpoint. - click here.